Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime
Semiconductor–superconductor hybrid systems are promising candidates for the realization of Majorana fermions and topological order, i.e. topologically protected degeneracies, in solid state devices. We show that the topological order is mirrored in the excitation spectra and can be observed in nonl...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2013-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/8/085003 |
| _version_ | 1827874137293455360 |
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| author | Björn Zocher Mats Horsdal Bernd Rosenow |
| author_facet | Björn Zocher Mats Horsdal Bernd Rosenow |
| author_sort | Björn Zocher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Semiconductor–superconductor hybrid systems are promising candidates for the realization of Majorana fermions and topological order, i.e. topologically protected degeneracies, in solid state devices. We show that the topological order is mirrored in the excitation spectra and can be observed in nonlinear Coulomb blockade transport through a ring-shaped nanowire. Especially, the excitation spectrum is almost independent of magnetic flux in the topologically trivial phase but acquires a characteristic h / e magnetic flux periodicity in the non-trivial phase. The transition between the trivial and non-trivial phase is reflected in the closing and reopening of an excitation gap. We show that the signatures of topological order are robust against details of the geometry, electrostatic disorder and the existence of additional subbands and only rely on the topology of the nanowire and the existence of a superconducting gap. Finally, we show that the coherence length in the non-trivial phase is much longer than in the trivial phase. This opens the possibility to coat the nanowire with superconducting nanograins and thereby significantly reduce the current due to cotunnelling of Cooper pairs and to enhance the Coulomb charging energy without destroying the superconducting gap. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:47:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c26d56556dca4773b9b207dc65a4f8c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:47:54Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-c26d56556dca4773b9b207dc65a4f8c12023-08-08T11:29:11ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302013-01-0115808500310.1088/1367-2630/15/8/085003Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regimeBjörn Zocher0Mats Horsdal1Bernd Rosenow2Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig , D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences , D-04103 Leipzig, GermanyInstitut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig , D-04103 Leipzig, GermanyInstitut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig , D-04103 Leipzig, GermanySemiconductor–superconductor hybrid systems are promising candidates for the realization of Majorana fermions and topological order, i.e. topologically protected degeneracies, in solid state devices. We show that the topological order is mirrored in the excitation spectra and can be observed in nonlinear Coulomb blockade transport through a ring-shaped nanowire. Especially, the excitation spectrum is almost independent of magnetic flux in the topologically trivial phase but acquires a characteristic h / e magnetic flux periodicity in the non-trivial phase. The transition between the trivial and non-trivial phase is reflected in the closing and reopening of an excitation gap. We show that the signatures of topological order are robust against details of the geometry, electrostatic disorder and the existence of additional subbands and only rely on the topology of the nanowire and the existence of a superconducting gap. Finally, we show that the coherence length in the non-trivial phase is much longer than in the trivial phase. This opens the possibility to coat the nanowire with superconducting nanograins and thereby significantly reduce the current due to cotunnelling of Cooper pairs and to enhance the Coulomb charging energy without destroying the superconducting gap.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/8/085003 |
| spellingShingle | Björn Zocher Mats Horsdal Bernd Rosenow Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime New Journal of Physics |
| title | Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime |
| title_full | Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime |
| title_fullStr | Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime |
| title_full_unstemmed | Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime |
| title_short | Robustness of topological order in semiconductor–superconductor nanowires in the Coulomb blockade regime |
| title_sort | robustness of topological order in semiconductor superconductor nanowires in the coulomb blockade regime |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/8/085003 |
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